Ball-forging machine



Jan. 1925- 11,522,416

w. K. COATES BALL FORGING MACHINE Filed June :5, 1922 2 Sheets-Shet 1 ATTORNEY WITNESS:

jam. 1925 1,522,416

W. K. COATES BALL FORGING MACHINE Filed June a. 1 2 2 sheets-sheet 2 A Una i e 5 Q WW A? v r av zmdzw WITNESS: ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

WALLACE K. COATES, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BALL-FORGING MACHINE.

Application filed June 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, \VALLAon K. Gowns, a citizen of the United States, residing at- St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis City and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ball-Forging Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of this invention is to provide means for forming balls from hot cubes of metal by passing the-cubes between a grooved roller and a pair of die blocks.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide means whereby the first die block has a certain amount of movement to permit the cube to enter the space between the die block and the roller without cutting away any of the metal of the cube as the die block will accommodate itself to the irregular shape of the cube or slug.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrat'ed in the accompanylng drawings and soecifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a front viewof the invention.

Figure 2 is a top view.

Figure 3 is a side view.

Figure dis a sectional view.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the wedge means.

As shown in device is composed 1, which are spaced apart, the top plate 2 and the filler blocks 3 and 3 the parts being bolted together by the bolts l. Each side plate is provided with an opening 5 which extends from the upper edge of the plate to adjacent the center thereof with the bottom wall rounded. The walls of this opening are grooved, as at 6. The plate 2 is of substantially crossshape so as to fit between the side plates and within the-openings, the ends of each wing of the-plate having projecting parts 7 for engaging the outer edges and faces of the side plates, as clearly shown in Figure 2. In this way the upper ends of these views the frame of the of a pair of side plates 1922. Serial No. 565,645.

prevented from being The top plate is secured means of the lrey bars 8, which pass through openings formed in the side plates and extend over the upper face of the top plate. These key bars are held against longitudinal movement by the keys 9, which engage slots in the ends of said hey bars. The grooved roller 10 is journaled in the side plates by means of the semi-circular bearing brasses 11 which engage the grooves (5 formed in the walls of the openings in said side blocks, the lower brasses fitting in the grooves in the bottom walls of said openings, as shown. The upper brasses are formed with the bearing blocks 12, said blocks having tongues engaging the grooves 6 and these blocks are held in position by the bolts 13 carried by the top plate. Associated with said grooved roller is a pair of grooved die blocks 14L and 14 arranged one above the other and fitting in the space formed by the side plates and tiller blocks. The grooves in these blocks cooperate with the groove in the roller to compress the cubes, such as shown at 15, into a spherical shape to form the ball 16. Itwill of course be understood that the groove in the upper block has its mouth made substantially wide to receive the cube and said groove gradually narrows until it reaches the size required. It then continues at this size for about degrees so as to give the ball a perfect shape and size. The groove then increases in size topermit the ball to drop out.

In order to permit the upper die block to accommodate itself to the irregular shape of the sing and to prevent said die block from cutting away some of the metal of the slug I give said die block a certain amount of movement by providing recesses 17 in the bottom of the top plate and the inner side of the vertical filler block 8 to receive the rear and top'edges of said die block. Thus the die block can move rearwardly and upwardly to increase the space between itself and the top part of the roller and this amount of movement can be adjusted by the set bolt 18 carried by the top plate and pro jecting into the recess 1'? therein and by the overlapping wedge pieces 19 which extend into the side recess from openings in the side plates of the frame. These wedge pieces are movable one upon the other by the the side plates are pressed outwardly. to the side plate by screw 20 and the nut 21. I prefer to roughen the surface of the groove in the upper die block, as shown at 22.

I also plaeeeye bolts 23 on the top plate to permit the same to be lifted or put in place.

It will thus be seen that the cube is formed into a ball with great economy and the metal ball has greater density insuring a sound ball uniformly round;

By having the upper die block movable it will accommodate itself to the peculiar shape of the slug entering the space between itself and the roller, thus preventing tearing and cutting of the metal of the slug. By means of the wedge members and the bolt 18 the amount of movement of the die block can be adjusted. The said die block will normally remain in a position upon the lower die block under the action of gravity.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent.

I desire it to be understood that I may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1 1 1.. A ball forming machine comprising a frame, a grooved roller journaled therein, upper andlower die blocks supported by the frame and having grooves therein cooperating with the groove in the roller and means permitting the upper die block to have a certain amount of movement in a vertical and horizontal direction.

2. A ball forming machine comprising a frame, a grooved roller journaled therein, upper and lower die bloc-ks supported by the frame and having grooves therein eooperating with the groove inthe roller and adjustable means permitting the upper die block to have a certain amount of movement in a vertical and horizontal direction.

v3. A ball forming machine comprising a frame, a grooved roller journaled therein, upper and lower die blocks supported by the frame and having grooves therein cooperating with the groove in the roller to press a slug into spherical form, said frame having recesses therein for receiving the front and rear edges of the upper die block to permit movement of said die block.

L; A ball forming machine comprising a frame, a grooved roller journaled therein, upper and lower die blocks supported by the frame and having grooves therein cooperating with the groove in the roller to press a slug int-o spherical form, said frame having recesses therein for receiving the front and rear edges of the upper die block to permitmovement of said die block and means extending into said recesses for adjusting the amount of movement of said die block.

5. A ball forming machine comprising aframe consisting of a pair of side plates having openings in their upper portions and a top plate having portions fitting in said openings, a grooved roller having its shaftjournaled in the lower walls of said openings, die blocks supported by the frame and having grooved edges for cooperating with the grooved roller to crush the blocks of metal into spherical shape when the roller is rotated.

6. A ball forming machine comprising a frame consisting of a pair of side plates having openings in their upper parts,rthe Walls of the openings being grooved with the lower walls curved, a grooved roller supported insaid frame, bearing brasses engaging the grooves in the side plates and embracing the shaft of the roller, bearing blocks for said brasses, a top plate for the frame, means detachably connecting the top plate to said side blocks and grooved die plates supported by the frame and cooperating with the grooved rollerto press the metal blocks into spherical form when the roller is rotated.

7. A ball forming machine comprising a frame consisting of a pair of side plates having bearing openings therein, and atop plate having wings extending across the said openings, the ends of the plate and the edges and outer faces of the side plates, key means for locking the top plate to the side plates, a grooved roller having its shaft journaled in the lower part of the bearing opening and die blocks having grooves in their curved faces, for cooperating with the groove in the roller for forming the metal blocks into spherical bodies when the'roller is rotated.

8. A device of the class described com-,-

prising a pair of spaced parallel side plates having aligned bearing openings formed therein, filler blocks secured to said side plates,a substantially cross shaped top plate disposed between said side plates and engaging said openings, key bars extending through said side plates above said top plate and provided with slots, keys engaging the slots in said bars, a pair of grooved'die blocks arranged one above the other. be

tween said side plates and engaging "said filler blocks, a shaft ournaled 1n the bearing openings in said side plates, and a grooved roller secured to said shaft between i said side plates and cooperating with the grooved die blocks aforesaid. I

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature. WALLACE K. COATES.

wings having projections for engaging the 

